MLB playoffs start now!

[drquest]

I was at the Cards/Nationals game last night myself with my 13 year old daughter. Good crowd all around.... It was a little cool but a fun game to watch in person.

[MegoSteve]

I was at the game on Sunday. I'm a Red Sox fan, but my little brother has been an Os fan since childhood, so we often go to Camden Yards together, especially when the Red Sox are in town. It meant a lot for him to go to a postseason game and I loved seeing how charged up the Os fans were... I've NEVER seen that before! Though it was cold, and there was a 2-1/2 hour rain delay (luckily, we had covered terrace seats), and the Os lost that night, it was one of the best times I ever had at a game.

I hope the Os make it to the ALCS, because we got seats again.

[spacecaps]

I never made my pics for the other series but I piced the Nats in 4 and the Yankees in 5. I went to the Game tonight. Baltimore is a great place to see game (I'm like 3 1/2 hours away) but I gotta say we sat by some real D-bag O's fans. I'm glad I didn't bring my son cause this guy was dropping F bombs on the Yankee fans all night. They finally removed him when he started ripping on 9-11 and making some really awful comments Many fans in the area made numerous complaints but they didn't escort him and his camouflaged (no joke) Mark Wieters jersey out till the 8th inning. Otherwise great atmosphere and a great game that the Yankees should have had with some timely hitting but it never came but that's baseball, Suzan......(only Yankee fans will get that reference there)

[Random Axe]

As a Reds fan, my hometown team couldn't have drawn a worse team to play. This team is dependent on the home run, and those won't happen in SanFran. I will go on record as stating the playoff schedule is ridiculous. There is no way the team with a better record has to go on the road for the first two games. The reality is the better record only is guaranteed ONE playoff game at home. That's unfair to the players and the respective cities whose economies are based on these games. That's just not for the Reds but all of baseball. The Yankees have to go to Baltimore for two games. If they end up dropping those, they have to go back and win three straight to advance.

I don't look for my team to do all that well, but Baker has been solid. When Votto went down he guided a bunch of players nobody has heard of to a 17-3 record. You can't do that by accident. He does make some head scratching decisions during the season, but overall is a good, honorable man. This playoff run will determine if he gets a new contract.

[spacecaps]

No real October magic tonight just a solid game in Texas. The o's did what they had to do and the Rangers did what they've been doing for the last few weeks (losing). St. Louis didn't so much win today, it was more like Atlanta lost. They literally threw their season away with some awful defense. Bad infield fly rule or not, if they played like the best defensive team in the league they wouldn't have been in that position in the first place. You can't give up 3 unearned runs on shoddy defense and expect to win a one game play off.

Tomorrow The A's and Tigers best of five stars as does the Giants and Reds. The A's have been red hot and pulled off a miracle comeback to knock the Rangers out of first place on the last day. As much as Baltimore has been good, they've ben the real surprise of the MLB. I think Bob Melvin is gonna get the nod as manager of the year over Showalter but that's beside the point. On the other side, Miguel Cabrera, the 1st Triple Crown Winner since the 60's. Great match-up but I think if the A's continue their torrid pace, they'll be able to overcome the Tigers. The DLS usually ends in a sweep for some reason but I'll say the A's in 4

Cincinnati and San Fran has two top teams going at it. Buster Posey carried the Giants into the play-offs with some amazing numbers down the stretch and they're only two years removed from their World Series title while the Reds are a very young team and the casual fan probably couldn't name a five players on the Reds roster. That doesn't mean the Reds arent a good team, they just lack experience and the big marketable young names of say the Nationals. Both teams are pretty equal but I'll take experience and the managers to make a difference in the series. I've always thought Dusty Baker is a bit absent minded as a skipper (he personally lost the World Series in '02 for the Giants) while Boche finds a way to win where ever he goes. The '90 Reds hold a special place in my heart when they beat the A's in a huge upset (couldn't stand McGwire and Canseco even back then before the steroids thing came out) and as much as I'd like them to win this series, I'll take the Giants in 3.

[Spawn67]

Orioles WIN!!!

[UnderdogDJLSW]

Lifelong O's fan, too. Going back all the way to the early 70s. I cannot think of a team I've watched that was more fun than this one this year. Truly a team effort.

[RickD]

the Dodgers are not in it so lets go A's or Nationals!

[drquest]

Wow that was an "interesting" Braves/Cards game.....

[spacecaps]

Well that's embarrassing. I'd expect that from Philly fans but ya know what, that's what baseball gets for getting in it's own way. Extra umpires aren't needed for games that have been called a certain way all year long. It's called an infield fly rule for a reason, not a shallow left field rule. That rule is there so an infielder can't drop a ball and turn a double play. It's there to protect the offense. Just a terrible call. I'm sorry but in the play-offs you have to get that call right. The Umpires are not the story and yet they find a way to become the story. The crew chief has to overrule that because you can't blow a call like that. No excuse for Atlanta though. You should never throw things on the field. Period. It's just an ugly scene for Atlanta and a disastrous one for baseball all around. Way to start things off.

[kingdom warrior]

Gonna watch the Orioles/Texas game that should be a good shoot out. Texas wants to redeem themselves after losing to the A's and the Orioles
would like a face to face shot with my Yanks.

I really liked the second wildcard team really added excitement to the game. Usually the end of the season is boring and this year it
wasn't

Cards and Braves will also be a good game.

Bobby Valentine as manager of the Redsux was a mistake from day one....but I did like Francona and I thought he shouldn't have gotten
the boot, hope Terry is laughing his azz off that they had such a terrible season......

[MegoMark71]

As a lifelong Redsox fan, i will pull for anyone other than the Yankmees. I will more than likely jump on the Orioles bandwagon. It would be nice to see them and the Nationals in the series. At least i have one reason to be happy today, so long bobby. Although you really never had a chance, you did start off wrong right from the start.

[megoapesnut]

I am not a big baseball fan, but congrats to Miguel Cabrera for winning the triple crown. What an awesome accomplishment, last done in 1967 by Carl Yastrzemski. Wow, didn't think anyone would ever win that again in modern baseball. That's something to be proud of. Good for him.

[Spawn67]

Go O's!! As a lifelong Orioles fan Im glad to see they made it this far since 1997. I saw the world series in 83 as a kid where we won.

[Hector]

I want another Bay Area World Series (I went to the first one)...

A's vs Giants...and with A's winning the whole thing, lol.